ACS Launches Interdisciplinary Photonics Journal

Published on August 13, 2013 at 7:55 AM

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Publications Division today announced launch of ACS Photonics, which meets the growing need for an interdisciplinary journal dedicated to high-impact research in the field of photonics, the study of interactions of light with matter. Harry A. Atwater, Ph.D., of the California Institute of Technology, will serve as the inaugural Editor-in-Chief.

Atwater is currently Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science at Caltech and serves as Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research Center on Light-Material Interactions in Energy Conversion. He is Director of the Resnick Institute for Science, Energy and Sustainability. Atwater is an early pioneer in nano-photonics and plasmonics. He has authored or co-authored over 400 publications, which have received over 20,000 total citations.

“Many of the most important challenges facing science and technology are fundamentally optical in nature, spanning primary scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry and engineering. ACS Photonics aims to promote cross-fertilization between these fields and bridge the gaps between different approaches to photonics,” said Atwater. He added, “The world of photonic science and engineering is global and now moves very fast. Our goal with ACS Photonics is to create a rapid pathway to publication and to give authors clear feedback on manuscripts with short turn-around times. Sourcing and publishing papers from all over the world best serves researchers, giving a comprehensive picture of photonic science and technology advances everywhere.”

This monthly online-only journal will begin receiving manuscript submissions this month, publish its first articles this fall, and its first issue in January 2014. Interdisciplinary research and research addressing emerging issues in photonics are of particular interest. Among the areas the journal will cover include, but are not limited to, molecular and nano-photonic processes, plasmonics and optical metamaterials, photonic crystals, integration and engineering in photonic systems, quantum optics and single-photon processes, and biophotonics.

Susan King, Senior Vice President, Journals Publishing Group, ACS Publications, says, “Photonics has been identified as a key enabling technology worldwide, impacting industries as diverse as electronics, alternative energy, communication and data storage, health and medicine, and others. By necessity, ACS Photonics will be a highly interdisciplinary journal serving the many research communities contributing to this important field, reflecting the vision of Dr. Atwater in his editorial leadership. Identified by a search committee composed of leading researchers from across the photonics field, Dr. Atwater brings a commitment to editorial excellence, scientific rigor and a depth of research expertise.”

Authors who submit to ACS Photonics will benefit from broad dissemination at over 5,000 institutions worldwide, fair and fast peer-review, and rapid publication using state-of-the art composition technology. ACS Photonics, like all ACS journals, will be free from required author fees and include open-access options. Learn more about the journal at http://pubs.acs.org/photonics.

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